Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Larissa Uredi. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Larissa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, one thing many business owners consider is donating a percentage of sales or profits to an organization or cause. We’d love to hear your thoughts and the story behind how and why you chose the cause or organization you donate to.

To our clients and on paper No-Where Consultants is a digital strategy and marketing company. But I look at a it a little differently — while our strategy to affecting change in society is through the things we do best (technical development, awareness strategy and email marketing), I look at No-Where as a social change and sustainability company.

Businesses have a responsibility to use their profits, their power and their resources to make the world a better place to be — not just a breeding ground for their own success. They also have a responsibility to understand the consequences of their goods and services.

For example in the tech industry Data Centers use roughly 3% of the global electric supply and contribute to 2% of the GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions). And while COVID did make it easier for folks to take in-person meetings online and therefore reduce their flight-based and vehicular carbon footprint, all of that cloud-based computing comes with its own set of consequences.

To help offset some of the impact of our very industry, No-Where donates 1% of our sales to One Tree Planted every year, regardless of our profit margin or overall business success — if we can, we do. What we love about this partnership is that with every dollar donated One Tree Planted plants one tree in a region of need.

In 2021 No-Where donated enough to plant 1600 trees across four regions in the world — that’s something that most companies 10x our size can’t say they’ve done and it’s a point of pride for us at here at No-Where.

We are not a perfect company — not even close. And while we know that we have a long ways to go to create a true population-level shift (along with our fellow B-Corp partners. Because no one can do it alone), we try to make it easy for our clients to know that they’re doing the right thing. By spending money with No-Where and trusting us to help you grow their business through thoughtful, empathy-based solutions, they can also be helping to reforest and create a future that can sustain.

Larissa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I came into the world of business leadership organically throughout my career, though I’d always had the streak and the interest. I grew up the daughter of a business owner and spent many hours in the office with my dad, working weekends and watching the inner workings of running a business.

I remember as a kid while my friends were playing “house”, I was playing “business owner in New York”.

Born and raised in Denver, I moved to Kansas City to pursue an arts career and attend the Kansas City Art Institute. Throughout my experience there I learned some valuable lessons that you’d be hard-pressed to get anywhere else; primarily that you have to be the best advocate for your own genius. While KCAI does not pretend to teach the business of being a successful artist they do a great job of driving home that success takes work and grit and determination. I came out of college with an understanding that if I was going to be successful I was going to have to out work my competition. And so I got busy. My very first business endeavor was a creative arts business called Unravelled, LLC.

Looking back on it, it was largely a hobby that brought in money but I learned a lot about marketing, vision, determination and what it really takes to make it as a business owner. I also realized that I was more interested in the business-side of things than the creative endeavor itself.

Around 2013 I had an opportunity to work for a small web development shop in the area — I didn’t know much about the industry but I’d dabbled in the skillset and was eager to learn. And that’s really when things started to happen — I was eventually hired away from that position to be a Technical Strategist for another organization in the KC metro area and, after a few years of learning some hard lessons and honing my skills, I opted to strike out on my own. I wasn’t sure what it was going to look like but I’d been building a decent collection of freelance clients and figured I’d make something work.

My partner had already launched No-Where Consultants and in 2015 I joined the endeavor. The rest is history and while we’ve grown and changed a lot over the years as an organization, the core of what we hope to accomplish for folks remains: we leverage technology to solve business problems.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

To date, No-Where Consultants’ success is based entirely on our referral partners. It’s both a point of pride and a point of consideration within our business. We’re really, really proud of the people we’ve served and the brands we’ve helped. We’re also aware of the fragility of those relationships. When “who you know” is the backbone of your business, there’s a lot of pressure to continue to meet and know and expand your overall network.

When relationships are the main reason for your success, it becomes clear that the intentionality and integrity with which those relationships are built are literally everything. You cannot ever stop to take those relationships or the people in your life for granted — and while this is one of those easy-to-say-and-universal-platitudes, if you really stop to think about it, it’s THE truth.

So, to that end, the lessons I’ve learned from building to this point is to take the time to get visible in your community from a place of service and integrity. Get out of your office, your comfort zone, your “sales funnels” and get involved in your community. And do it from a place of “how can I help” and not “what can I get”.

And then make sure that you deliver on your word — it’s not always easy and I make a lot of mistakes. That’s bound to happen, though. The advice I got from one of the very best bosses I’ve ever had was “it’s not the mistake that matters. It’s what you do with the opportunity it creates”.

I’ve found that, nine times out of ten, going back to someone and owning a mistake or re-engaging in a dialogue over something that didn’t exactly go as planned is the best way to turn a not-great situation into an opportunity for growth.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

One of the books that caught me by surprise and really changed my perspective is called “The Accidental Creative” by Todd Henry. It’s a brilliant discussion and toolset for how to continue to tap into the creative energy within on a regular basis without draining yourself to the point of burnout.

His advice and wisdom are something that everyone should take to heart and I’ve yet to find a more effective approach to solving big, messy problems than what he offers in the book.

Another one that I’d be remiss to leave out is “The Road Less Stupid”. It’s not the most well-written book and may not win a Pulitzer for literature any time soon but the message is one that every business owner or person-in-charge-of-anything really needs to take to heart. The concept is that of dedicated Thinking Time and without a plan and strategy to putting intentional Thinking Time into place in your life, it’s far too easy to let it fall to the wayside.

Ironically a colleague had to make the recommendation to me three or four times before I finally gave in and just downloaded it as a eBook to my phone to read but I’m so glad that I did — a strategy that’s worked well for me is to take some of the questions posed by the book and put them in the back of my journal. When I know that I’m due for some Thinking Time and need some structure, I can flip to the back of my journal, pick a question and get busy thinking.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.no-where.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowhereconsultants
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nowhereconsultants
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larissa-uredi-924a1217/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/nowherenet

Image Credits
Christy Jones – Photography and Wall Stylings by Christy